Sunday, 24 July 2016

Hate is such a galvanizing force.

Hate is such
a galvanizing force. Like a storm, its elements rush for maximum damage. Its
destruction converges at a point, a vortex of rage - the full weight of
mindless hate converges without reason and mercy.

The mob who
wanted to stone the prostitute did not turn up with open hands or hearts. They
rallied, chanting and clamoring, with clenched fists, safeguarding the stone
they were so eager to hurl at the subject of their ire. Alas, their hearts were
as hard as the stone in their hands.

You can't
reason with a mob unless you are prepared to flow with their unreason. They
can't be taught unless you teach them how to hate even more. The mob has no
eyes to see, no ears to hear and no heart to pause. They speak in one voice,
and that is the voice of death, not life.

The mob love
to hate. They love to hurt. They love to stone. And every stone they throw is
stained by their own blood, which is the same crimson blemish that flows in the
veins of those they hate. The only difference between the mob and the object of
their hate is the numbers they hide behind. Stripped of the mindless crowd, the
lone hater stands on level ground with the one he hates.

In the end,
we are all guilty of the very same thing we accuse the others of, and that is,
the flaws we are so hell bent to eradicate from others. Hate therefore makes
nothing grow except more hate.

But love is
so different. It is in fact so different that it is exceptional - transforming
even. In love, everything grows and matures in due season. In love, we don't
see differences, we see similarities. In love, we don't see division, we see
common ground. In love, we don't see threat, we see opportunity. In love, we
don't see bitterness, we see forgiveness. And in love, we don't hoard, we give.

In the
barren land of hate, everything dies. But in the lush green land of love,
everything that yields to life flourishes. Understanding widens. Compassion
blooms. Hope soars. Charity yields. Joy springs. And peace flows.

Love
conquers all as it starves hate of the oxygen it needs to survive, that is, the
consummation of self. As hate obsesses over self, love addresses it. Love
transforms hate. She opens his eyes. She redirects his focus. She broadens his
heart.

In love, we
have a precursor. We have an example. In fact, in the Bible, God is love.

Jesus did
not die to hate. He died for, in and to love. The greatest commandment for him
revolves around love. In the last supper, he did not debate, explain or dissect
theology. Neither did he lecture about theories of his death and resurrection.
No, he simply reminded them to love one another.

There is no
greater commandment or teaching than that. It was what his whole life was all
about. It was the culmination of all the lessons he had taught - the summation
of everything his spirit embodied. It was his last will and testament witnessed
by all and addressed to all.

Yes, Jesus
was firm. He called out the hypocrites, the blood vipers, the whitewashed
tombs. He overturned tables, rounded up the den of thieves, rebuked the Scribes
and Pharisees. However, his last defining act, his legacy and parting wish, was
carried out in love. Jesus went all the way because he loved all the way.

It was love
that drove him to Calvary; not hate. It was love that restrained his hands when
they nailed it to the cross; not hate. It was love that turned the face the
other way because the Father could not bear the sight of his son; not hate. It
was love who declared "It's finished"; not hate - for hate would have
declared "They're finished." And it was love that brought hope to the
lost world; not hate.